This morning in Chicago hundreds of primarily Republican state legislators are getting more indoctrination against doing anything about climate change from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

This year, ALEC has chosen its long-time partner, the Heartland Institute, to help host the session. Heartland is so extreme on the issue of climate change that it sought to equate people who believe the climate is changing with the Unabomber, through a billboard campaign that featured a mugshot of Ted Kaczynski with the line: "I still believe in Global Warming. Do you?" Heartland lost numerous funders in response to a citizens campaign about the ad last year.

State Farm gave Heartland $230,000 in 2011, according to documents posted by DeSmog Blog. It was not Heartland's biggest donor; an unnamed person or corporation anonymously gives it well over $1 million per year for its operations, which include a heavy dose of climate change denial.

State Farm, however, remains on ALEC's board and funds its operations for an undisclosed amount.

Heartland Institute: Global Warming "Would Be Beneficial," if Real

Bast is flexible, so to speak, in how he argues about climate change, asserting that there is "no global warming trend" but alternatively claiming that if it were to get hotter, global warming "would be beneficial to the natural world and to human civilization." He even asserts that if there were global warming, it would help you live longer.

That claim echoes a previous ALEC conference where lawmakers were urged to consider "Warming Up to Climate Change: the Many Benefits of Increased Atmospheric CO2" by another climate change denier.

Then-state rep (now U.S. Congressman) Mark Pocan attended that session and helped expose that ALEC lawmakers were told at that ALEC session that because the amount of carbon dioxide had increased during the past century and so had the average human lifespan, "therefore" increased CO2 is good for you.

Shocked that such a fallacious claim would be made with a straight face, he asked a fellow lawmaker what he thought about it, and his fellow rep gushed about what a great session it was. With colleagues like that in statehouses across the country, it is no wonder so many state legislatures are not addressing the dire threats posed by the climate changes that are demonstrably underway; North Carolina, for example, barred state universities from even studying sea level rise in that coastal state.

Heartland Climate Change Propaganda Aims for Lawmakers, and Little Children

This year, the Heartland Institute's James Taylor (not the son of the singer of "Fire and Rain") will be pushing its spin. Taylor's claim to fame is being an advisor to Texas Governor Rick Perry, who ran for president last year -- a candidate whose dimness was epitomized by his failure to be able to name all three of the federal government agencies he pledged to eliminate.

Taylor is said to be the "primary author" of Rick Perry's energy plan, and also advised Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney on "energy and environment." ALEC calls Taylor a "Sponsor Speaker," presumably because his slot speaking at breakfast time was paid for by one of ALEC's sponsors, like the Heartland Institute.

Heartland operates a number of ventures that are part of the climate denial machine. It has its sights set not only on capturing lawmakers but on indoctrinating school kids. Its wish list includes creating a K-12 "curriculum" that would tell kids that saying the climate is changing is "controversial," even though fewer than 3% of all peer-reviewed scientific articles on climate change reject global warming.

Part of the PR playbook of climate change denial is to create confusion.

That's where TV weather guys come in. There are very few scientists peddling climate denial, some of whom have ties to the fossil fuel industry. Their claims are amplified by a few TV weather personalities whose main job is telling folks if it might rain or snow this week, not predicting the weather ten years from now.

An ALEC Version of the Earth Is Flat: It's Global Cooling and That's Cool

At this week's ALEC meeting, ALEC lawmakers will be hearing from the fast-talking Joe Bastardi, who describes himself as a long-range weather forecaster and who will be welcomed to the ballroom stage by Heartland's Joe Bast.

Bastardi, a Penn State grad, used to get a lot of mileage in the climate denial world out of being a meterologist for the widely known Accuweather, which was created at Penn State nearly 50 years ago. He's a former college wrestler and a body builder who has made a name for himself as a pugnacious talking head about climate on Fox and other shows. Bill O'Reilly loves him. Bastardi left Accuweather to join WeatherBELL Analytics, a subscription service, in 2011.

According to a Vanity Fair interview that year, "his bread and butter, he says, are his corporate clients, the names of which he won't divulge, saying only that he's 'heavily involved in energy.'"

Bastardi is much more than a global warming denier.

His notorious claim is that the earth is not going to get warmer in coming decades: it is going "to get colder over the next 20 to 30 years." He usually adds something to his spiel about "solar cycles" being partly to blame or volcanoes, not the massive increase in carbon dioxide caused by burning fossil fuels in the past century.

The USDA Says It's Getting Warmer (and that's the Opposite of Colder)

While American skepticism about climate change has been growing along with the pack of politicians echoing denialist claims, the USDA issued an update on growing zones that shows that the United States is getting warmer (an ap available at the link above shows how much the map has changed). Setting aside the politics, the Department of Agriculture must give advice about what can be planted and survive or thrive.

According to the plant hardiness map, most parts of the U.S. are now able to grow trees and plants that formerly could not survive in their region, due to warming temperatures. To put that more concretely, botanical gardens from cold-belt cities like Chicago and Madison are now considering planting trees like southern swamp cypresses that formerly could not survive winters there, due to the changing climate. That is because it is getting warmer. Ask any snowmobile franchisee in that region.

The majority of reputable scientists, in fact, acknowledge that the planet is getting warmer due to CO2, not colder. More than accept this reality, many of them are on record expressing deep concerns about the consequences of the projected warming on human life. Even though some weather patterns are changing -- which may make some areas cooler as others heat up, along with more extreme weather -- the chart of measured temperatures shows a rising pattern that is unmistakable.

But ALEC lawmakers will not be hearing about what the vast majority of scientists think, which is that the planet is warming and will warm to dangerous levels unless steps are taken to limit CO2 output and increase renewable energy.

ALEC Is Bankrolled by Huge Oil, Gas, and Coal Corporations

ALEC, which is bankrolled by some of the biggest companies profiting from expanded consumption of oil, gas, and coal, has numerous bills designed to stop any effort to address climate change.

These ALEC lobbying agenda items include trying to stop the EPA from regulating CO2; trying to stop the government from imposing a carbon tax, and trying to stop states from honoring contracts to produce a portion of their energy from renewable energy sources, as the Center for Media and Democracy has helped document as part of its ALECexposed project.

It is no surprise that some of the richest corporations in the world that have underwritten ALEC's operations -- like Koch Industries, Exxon, Chevron, Marathon, BP, Peabody Coal, and TransCanada, which has been pushing the Keystone XL Pipeline -- benefit financially from the sowing of confusion about climate change. Some may wonder why other ALEC sponsors are going along with ALEC's role in the denier's playbook. For example, State Farm's executives continue to fund ALEC even though the insurer has to pay out big sums when extreme weather strikes.

Maybe State Farm and the other corporations buy ALEC's spin or overlook it. After all, ALEC labeled this morning's session "A Thoughtful Approach to Climate," even though it leaves out and aims to dismiss what most scientists actually believe based on extensive analysis of the data available.

Or perhaps a breakfast of climate confusion is easier for lawmakers and lobbyists to swallow after a night of being wined and dined on fossil fuel profits and the largesse of ALEC's other corporate benefactors.

Comments

There are not many places on earth that are politically stable and where the oil is not dominated by state-owned enterprises -- most of whom would rather enjoy harming Americans by cutting off the flow of oil if they could.

At least in Canada and the US, the EPA does a far better job ensuring the safety of domestic oil. And we do not have to worry about a military coup or an "Arab Spring."

When has any science been settled? Would You rather middle class American families continue paying @ least double for basic necessities? We're using corn that starving HUMANS could be eating, into ethanol to be burnt in your engine,does that make you feel better? Criminals leading the blind(you) around with sensational claims appealing to your save the world mentality.. all the while the draconian shackles created by UNACCOUNTABLE-UNELECTED is now causing massive and real pains to the people your high and mighty religion/cause claims to protect.. Do me a favor,before you spew anymore of the same tired dis proven claims(97% and that anyone that claims agw is hoax is getting rich from oil company payouts), please spend a few hours looking at the many(although you claim few exist) scientists and physicists who offer a differing view(backed by actual science). Also note that a large majority of these folks were once AGW proponents!

p.s. Could you write an actual old school reporting piece representing both sides??? Simply go and ask your editor,but you probably already know the answer to that one! Is there consensus? Have you checked? i bet you took someones word for it,isn't journalism looking for the facts?

What most vocal proponents fail to realize about the pipeline that will carry filthy Canadian tar sands through US territory, a pipleline that has seen catastrophic leaks in the portions already built, is that while it will create a respectable number of jobs during construction, the permanent jobs will number in the dozens rather than hundreds.

In addition, that oil will never be "American." Oil is a commodity, it will be priced on the open market and sold by whoever owns it to whatever country is willing to pay the highest price. Canada wants to ship its tar sands through America because Canadians have prevented the construction of a pipeline across their own country to get to Japanese refineries.

This oil will never "protect" America from gasoline shortages or price hikes, but the damage from the inevitable spills will ruin large portions of out heartland forever.

PS Prudhoe Bay, site of the Exxon Valdes spill decades ago, is still full oil on its shore. The oil in the Gulf, rendered invisible through the use of so-called "clean-up" chemicals, is still there, damaging local property and businesses, poisoning the wildlife, and contaminating the shellfish we used to like to eat.

Fish most any major river in the US., AnnaQ. You don't HAVE to worry about eating toxins in your catch. Close your eyes and cross a busy road; you don't HAVE to worry about being hit by a car.

Scarcity of resources clean enough, healthy enough, may not be hitting hard for many in the US next week or even next year, but trend says it's coming. If clean resources or just plain resources concern you now you might rationally worry as well for something like an Arab Spring coming to a township near you.

When has any science been settled? Would You rather middle class American families continue paying @ least double for basic necessities? We're turning corn that starving HUMANS could be eating, into ethanol to be burnt in your engine,does that make you feel better? Criminals leading the blind(you) around with sensational claims appealing to your save the world mentality.. all the while the draconian shackles created by UNACCOUNTABLE-UNELECTED is now causing massive and real pains to the people your high and mighty religion/cause claims to protect.. Do me a favor,before you spew anymore of the same tired dis proven claims(97% and that anyone that claims agw is hoax is getting rich from oil company payouts), please spend a few hours looking at the many(although you claim few exist) scientists and physicists who offer a differing view(backed by actual science). Also note that a large majority of these folks were once AGW proponents!

p.s. Could you write an actual old school reporting piece representing both sides??? Simply go and ask your editor,but you probably already know the answer to that one! Is there consensus? Have you checked? i bet you took someones word for it,isn't journalism looking for the facts?

First off, I'd like to ask a rhetorical question. Are you retarded or just plain stupid? If you want FACTS, go to a government department website (any .Gov site; NASA, EPA, DEPT. of energy) they will all say the same thing. GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL, HAPPENING NOW & GETTING EXPONENTIALLY WORSE. Mainly due to humans because of idiots like you who don't actually look at facts, only what some other retard-ican is telling you to think. I just can't believe you would even mention corn oil and starving people. The US alone procures & produces enough food to feed 12 billion people, there are only 7 billion people on the planet and yet there's starving people in every city in the world. Think about that before saying stupid and ridiculous things. I hope you don't ever procreate and make more idiots like yourself.

You would continue to deny the facts. Even to the point of your own extinction that humans are the main cause of the current changes in climate. I looked into some affiliations a couple years ago and found that claims against agw were were mostly made by people with a financial interest in fossil fuels. And of course the faux news viewers like yourself. It's not your fault you're being lied to but it's your responsibility to find out why only 3 out of a hundred or 30 of 1000 continue to try to discredit the scientific community. And, why don't you attack the agw facts rather than the writer of this article. Funny even highly educated people backed by the some of the richest people in the world have yet to convince 97 of 100 scientists that it ain't happening. Please wtfu.

There is no two sides to this subject Climate change is real and it's a fact and that's why 97% of the environmental scientists and every climate scientist who work on this agrees that it's a fact, by all the research that they have done. You need to realize you are not arguing with the scientists and the environmentalists, but their research results. What you are really trying to deny is nature, and the laws of physics of the way this planet operates. You cannot have that much carbon dumped into the atmosphere for the last hundred and 50 years, the vast majority by humans, without getting catastrophic consequences at some point. We have reached that point and are already well into the consequences of climate change.